The sun soared in the morning while the clouds glowed in a bright orange, slightly covering the sun. A weak light fell in a room of an Inn. It was near the marketplace, and inside the room was Libertas opening a box. With the swift movement of a knife, the box revealed a heap of gold and silver coins.

Knock.

Knock.

Libertas closed the box before he shouted, "Come in."

Igor walked in with several small bags. The door closed again, and the duo filled the gold and silver coins in the bags. In the end, one small bag hung from Libertas waist, as the rest were around Igor's. Finally, it was done. They smiled satisfied at each other.

But just as Libertas opened his mouth, Petro's voice resounded from the outside, "Hey, Libertas, come downstairs. Let's have breakfast together. We can plan the coming journey then!"

Libertas glanced stunned at the door before he replied, "Alright, wait a moment. I will be there in a minute."

Later, downstairs at a table, sat the group of eight waiting for their breakfast. Soon a waitress came up, serving each a wooden bowl of soup with a piece of bread. After she was gone, Libertas asked Petro, "So, what did you plan for our coming journey?"

Petro took out a map, spreading it on the centre of the table, "First, let me explain something."

The map showed the territory of Pyros, this kingdom, and the kingdom's capital was in the north-western part of the domain. Though, this was more or less usual as expansions didn't happen evenly. There was a red marking at the southern border.

The southern border had a grand forest marking the boundaries of the kingdom. Rumours told that terrifying demons were lurking inside, preparing to devour humanity. And this border was Libertas' marquessate. A river which flowed near the boundary parted the marquessate with the rest of the kingdom. Due to that, the southern border contained the eastern boundaries too. As such only three marquessates exist.

Petro placed his finger on top of the map, pointing at a dot, "This is the City of slaves. Currently are we here."

Judas glanced at him, "Yeah, we know. It's not like we don't know we are here at the City of Slaves."

Petro coughed, his finger moved down the map, stopping at another dot near a mountain range, "This was our next planned destination. Though, I and Judas have something else to do after the auction, as such, let us part here, for now, and meet up there."

The finger moved back up, stopping at a lake, "This is the Frozen Lake. There is a giant Obelisk that one can see from the distance. Let's meet up there, okay?

Libertas gazed at Petro. He did remember that Petro exposed himself as a spy. Why would a spy wish to stay in a city, which was coincidentally playing a significant role in commerce? But in the end, he didn't really care much about that. As such, he slowly spoke, "We can do that, but if you need help you can tell…"

Libertas glanced around. Unsure if should say 'us' or just 'me'. The monkey-men were already gobbling down their third portions, as for the succubi, they were impatiently waiting for the discussion to end. At last, he said, "me."

Petro shook his head, "No need. Just met us there, is enough. As for the next topic, it would be travelling expense. How much would you be able to pay?"

"I believe it is enough."

"Don't forget the auction."

"Even then, it will be enough."

"Alright. Then allow Igor to come with us. We will go on a shopping spree!"

Petro stood up, he didn't touch his bowl, as Judas had helped him to eat. After putting one last spoon in his mouth, Judas followed Petro. Igor spoke to Libertas and he followed them too, "Your Excellency, please stay here until I come back."

Then, the succubi noticed that the discussion had ended, they rushed out with a predatory smile. They were even faster out of the door than Petro, and when they passed by Judas, he shivered.

Left behind were only Libertas and the monkey-men. Libertas was in awe by the number of bowls. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Each of them was already at their fifth bowls.

"So, you are called Ferus and Ferox?"

"Waitress, a further bowl!"

As if she was already prepared and used to this, she immediately came with two further bowls of piping hot soup and two pieces of bread. The one who shouted received the bowls while the other showed his thumb turned up to him. Then they resumed gobbling the food down. Was that now a yes? Let's assume this for now.

"Are you brothers?"

Once again, the thumb up. Though, this time, it was both who did that.

"So why did you come with us?"

Libertas noticed that the question couldn't be answered with a simple yes or no. He wondered to himself how they would react to answer. Then, he finally saw the response.

"To."

"Repay."

"Favour."

"By."

"Protecting."

"You."

After they gobbled down one mouthful, they could speak one word before their mouth become filled again. As they took turns to speak, the sentence was rather… smooth instead of a stumbling mess.

Libertas laughed as this weird sight, "Ahaha, thanks. If you need anything, you will find me upstairs in my room."

Once upstairs, he sat down on a chair, lost in thoughts and melancholy. Though the old world, earth, was peaceful, it was cruel too. But in this world, he felt so much out of place. He shouldn't be here. He was suddenly thrown here, and instantly pushed around.

Even if force led him to set out on this journey, wasn't it… enjoyable? Libertas had plenty to eat, met a new friend, and interacted with a lot of people. He had missed the feeling to interact with others, as he was an outcast in the last part of life. There wasn't much of a need to communicate with an outcast.

Then, another piece of memory resurfaced. The butchered Orcs, the people held like livestock, the slaves treated like livestock. The urge to puke occurred once again. Maybe the journey wasn't that enjoyable. He suppressed the urge and threw it at a dusty corner of his mind.

As Libertas goes through his memories, he noticed, he never saw a mage. There was a church, demi-humans, slaves, warriors, archers, tankers, guilds, and so on, but there was nothing related to mages. The only exception was perhaps the name of the spiritual energy, 'Mana'.

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders. After comparing the idea of a mage with the way to attain power, they didn't seem compatible. A mage sought to understand everything with logic, but the way to attain power was to feel a law, then comprehend it instinctively.

A man can think on his own with his consciousness, deduct highly complicated maths equations, and solve cryptic puzzles. But he won't be able to control his heartbeat, as this was the task of the subconsciousness. Walking, breathing, blinking, was all done by the subconsciousness. A mage would be the consciousness while the way to attain power the subconsciousness was.

Libertas stood up from his chair, walked near a window, and sat down with his legs crossed. His Imaginary World should have fully formed by now, as such currently, he should be at the Foundation Stage. He closed the eyes, took a deep breath, and relaxed.

In Libertas' Imaginary World. The red veil still covered the sight of a fuzzy form, but strangely Libertas could feel what was behind the veiling. Even the sweet metallic smell seemed to be lighter than before. Out of curiosity, he tried to sense the fuzzy form.

It was a man with a round belly. He wore a white apron, and red gloves covered his hands. An idle smile plastered his face, but the crooked eyes shone with insanity. The general appearance was similar to Libertas', though the belly resembled an Orc and features of the Swordsman was blended in. Clearly, he was a butcher.

As such, in one of the butcherer's hand laid a cleaver. He held it loosely, as he pointed it at a fuzzy form. Unlike the ones at the feet of the butcher, that one, couldn't be identified. The ones at the feet of butcher seemed like pixelated pigs. Their heads already rolled off from their body, but a weak squeak seemed to come from their snouts.

Libertas frowned. The nearer the red veil was to the unidentified shape, the more it faded away until it entirely disappeared. That shouldn't be possible, as only one law should exist in the Imaginary World, it wouldn't be able to erase itself from existence.

Knock.

Knock.

An impatient knocking sounded from the outside, in reality. Libertas sighed. Countless questions, but with no answers. Answers can be sought after, but the enlightenment will remain empty. He stood up, walked, and opened the door.

Standing there was the waitress, behind her was the monkey-brothers, back in their beast-form. They smiled sheepishly, as they scratched the head. The waitress said a bit annoyed, "Sir, you shouldn't leave your Slaves behind! They will eat until your hair turns bald! Now, pay your bill, 125 Copper!"

Ferox and Ferus froze, did she just call them slaves? Similar stood there Libertas frozen, starring stunned at her. Though, all the waitress thought was that Libertas was too poor, "So you can't pay back, huh? Then you can sell your slaves. They should be enough, after all, they have a good build!"

After seeing Libertas didn't react even then, she resumed lecturing, "Boy, you shouldn't be too attached to slaves. They are worthless, if you had the money, you could easily buy a dozen. Look, they are useless if one isn't strict enough. See what they have done to you? A debt of 125 Copper! Besides that, where are your par-"

She felt two hairy hands laying on her shoulder. Irritatedly she slapped them away before she continued to berate the monkey-brothers, "Don't you lowly slaves have manners? If your master-"

"Milady, could you stop speaking? Don't you just want the money?"

Libertas fetched 13 silver coins out of the little bag at his waist before he squeezed them into her hands. Then he told the lady, "Please, stop bothering us from now on. You can keep the change."

Libertas closed the door. As for the monkey-brothers, when they saw the problem solved, they shrugged with the shoulders and casually walked into their room. She gawked baffled after the monkey-brothers. Were nowadays, slaves treated better than her?

The sun fell, and the evening arrived. The Auction will soon begin.